Kurd Nine-Grid

"Strange. Why has it been so quiet these past two weeks?"

From atop the high outer wall of the Armory Camp, Audrey gazed into the distance during her routine patrol. Not a soul was in sight.

For the first half-month after the Bloodthirsty Mosquito Swarm retreated, bands of marauders or Alien Tribes attacked almost every day, hoping to loot and occupy the Armory Camp.

After half a month, they had wiped out several bands of marauders, and the area had fallen into an eerie silence. No more marauders or aliens had attacked the Armory Camp.

Audrey knew there were plenty of marauders in Odyssey. They had killed many over the past few days, but not enough to wipe them all out.

She had no idea what corner those marauders were scheming in now.

The marauders had stopped wandering over because they had been drawn away by the news spread by the Vincent Family.

The Armory Camp was remote, and Audrey didn't know about the news. It was only natural that she found the silence strange.

Medivh didn't care whether any bands of marauders attacked.

Killing them brought little benefit. Developing in peace was the way to go.

During the month since the Bloodthirsty Mosquito Swarm retreated, the Time Skeletons had worked day and night. The walls on the east, south, and west sides of the Armory Camp had joined up, completing the Wall District.

The walls around the Wall District weren't particularly imposing. They were only sixteen meters high and six meters thick, but that was enough for the Odyssey Region.

A wall only needed to be high enough. The main thing that determined whether it could repel enemies was the soldiers stationed on it.

Without a strong garrison, even walls twenty or thirty meters high would struggle to stop an enemy assault.

Once the walls joined up, the only way in and out of the Armory Camp was through the gates on the east, west, south, and north. Anyone entering elsewhere would have to climb over the wall.

Skeleton Soldiers stood guard and patrolled atop the walls. It was impossible to climb over without them noticing.

With the walls joined up, Medivh had his first proper urban district.

He officially named the Armory Camp Kurd City.

Kurd City wouldn't have just one district. The brickworks were constantly expanding and producing all kinds of bricks for construction. One large square zone after another would be built and incorporated into Kurd City.

For example, the area outside Kurd City's western wall, where the Skeletons dug up yellow earth to fire bricks, was the Reservoir District Medivh had planned.

He had planned it out long ago. The Skeletons weren't digging randomly.

That area would eventually become a four-by-four grid of medium-sized blocks. Each block would contain a deep pond with sides nearly two hundred meters long.

The borders of the medium-sized blocks would be the pond embankments, broad enough to serve as roads.

The sixteen deep ponds together would form a reservoir.

The Reservoir District would supply water to the urban districts and store water for irrigating the nearby Agricultural and Pastoral Districts. It could also raise fish and produce meat.

In the Nine-Grid District centered on Kurd City, the two blocks to the east and west would both be Reservoir Districts; the southern block would be the Graveyard District; and the northern block would be the Manufacturing District, housing the brickworks and other buildings. The four corner blocks would consist of three Agricultural Districts and one Pastoral District.

Like Kurd City, each of these large blocks would have a hundred-meter-wide Wall District surrounding it, with high walls to protect the area inside.

The Wall District would also consist of double-row buildings. The outer row would be defensive walls to repel enemies, while the inner row would be Fort Towers where Combat Skeletons and Logistics Skeletons could live.

The large blocks wouldn't be built right next to one another. A hundred-meter-wide main road would be left between them.

Each large block would be both an independent zone and positioned to support the others.

If enemies attacked along the main road, they would come under fire from both sides.

The main roads between the large blocks would serve as barbicans.

The large blocks wouldn't be completely isolated from one another. Medivh had designed underground corridors to make it easier to move troops around during wartime.

The nine large blocks would form a network of forts, complete with their own water sources, farmland, pastures, and manufacturing districts. They would be highly self-sufficient.

Once the Kurd Nine-Grid was finished, it wouldn't be vulnerable to a siege.

His accidental death in his previous life, the upheaval of his childhood in this one, and his clansmen's scheming had left Medivh subconsciously insecure.

His decision to build his territory as a network of forts and to cultivate the Earth Battle Qi Breathing Technique both showed how much he valued defense.

His talent also made this approach viable. As long as he stayed alive, he could keep growing stronger. The longer he lived, the more numerous and powerful the Time Skeletons under his command would become.

Over the past month, Medivh hadn't slacked off in his cultivation.

Once he had used up the high-quality bones excavated from the Ancient Battlefield, he began refining Skeletons from bones dug up in the ruins of an ordinary Residential District.

Over the past month, Kurd City had gained 165 Grey Bones, 124 White Bones, and 52 Green Bone Skeletons.

They were all Common Skeletons. The ruins of an ordinary Residential District contained no remains of human knights or mages.

Besides refining Skeletons, Medivh had learned two earth-element battle techniques: Earth-Splitting Slash and Mountain Rock Stance.

Earth-Splitting Slash was an offensive battle technique. At its initial stage, it combined the effects of Earthquake Stagger and Sword Qi Slash.

To achieve an effect where the earth split apart and sword qi surged up from underground to tear through a target, one needed to reach a high level as a knight.

Mountain Rock Stance was a purely defensive battle technique. It covered the body in Battle Qi, greatly enhancing defense.

Its effects were somewhat similar to the earth-element spell Stone Skin.

When mastered, Mountain Rock Stance could make one's Battle Qi take on the aspect of a mountain rock, allowing one to stand firm and unshaken with astonishing defensive power.

This also required a high level as a knight. Battle Qi that wasn't strong enough couldn't produce this effect.

There was one more earth-element battle technique Medivh hadn't learned. It was called Savage Stone Charge, a shield charge skill.

Medivh didn't care how much of a stir the Odyssey Region made.

After the walls around Kurd City joined up, the Skeletons kept working overtime to build walls around the other districts.

They didn't rush to build the Residential District inside Kurd City.

Medivh planned to finish the Kurd Nine-Grid first. Once it was self-sufficient, he would fill in the rest of the city's buildings.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed since the marauders robbed the Vincent Family.

The marauders gathered in Winter Canyon didn't have the courage to attack Winter Fortress and enter the Gewalt Federation to plunder.

After staying there for a while and eating the food they had stolen from the Vincent Family, the marauders split into bands of various sizes and entered the Odyssey Region to loot.

Some bands attacked human camps and Alien Tribes they already knew about.

Others wandered along the Winter Mountains, planning to enter the mountains to hunt.

The Winter Mountains weren't unclaimed land. The forests on the side nearest the Odyssey Region were either occupied by Alien Tribes or the territory of powerful magical beasts.

As they poached game and were driven off, a large group of marauders traveled east along the Winter Mountains.

"There's a town here?"

When Kurd City came into view, the marauders stared in surprise. Somehow, a town had appeared in this remote area.

"Food!"

Their eyes lit up, and they charged toward Kurd City.

Compared to Winter Fortress, this town would be much easier to loot.

Anyone able to build a walled town here had to be well-off. They wouldn't be short on food.

"Hahaha! It's a Skeleton town!"

The marauders spotted Kurd City, and the garrison spotted them too.

When they saw the Skeletons working in the open returning to the city, the marauders froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.